Mar. 29, 2014

Jeff Mitchell / The Salinas Californian

Written by

Under the Dome

As we all gear up for this June’s primary election, it occurred to me that we shouldn’t take our eye off the ball of what’s happening with the Monterey County Board Supervisors and its desire to continue violating the Brown Act, the state’s open meetings law.

Of course I’m referring to County Counsel Charles McKee and the board’s unfortunate — and I think illegal — practice of using closed-door “personnel evaluation” sessions to plot out and organize governmental strategy.

McKee’s public statements since this whole ugly mess broke a few weeks ago seem to shore up that decision.

Thankfully, the Save Our Peninsula Committee and its lawyer Richard Rosenthal are pressing forward with a lawsuit to try to stop the practice. A rescheduled hearing for the suit has been set for April 14 in Monterey.

The gall of McKee and Board Chairman Lou Calcagno to continue (or threaten to continue) to hold these sessions — even while a Monterey County District Attoney’s Office investigation is under way — is just off the charts.

What I have been able to read from McKee’s response to the committee’s lawsuit doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.

My sense that he is taking and recommending a radically overbroad, anti-public and anti-democratic interpretation of the Brown Act to prop up his rationale for allowing the illegal evaluation sessions to continue.

I would argue that McKee needs to be doing just the opposite. If anything, he should be advising his board clients that they should approach this thing from the narrowest of interpretations — and not about what he thinks they can get away with.

This comes down to whether the people voters have selected to serve on the Board of Supervisors remember who put them there in the first place.

Running a democratic government out in the open — in the “sunshine,” so to speak — is hard work. It’s also, at times, awkward, inconvenient and frustrating. But it’s our system, and it’s what we expect of our government leaders.

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So, frankly, that’s why the near complete lack of leadership and deafening silence by all members of the current board — Calcagno, Simon Salinas, Dave Potter, Jane Parker and Fernando Armenta – on this situation has been so deeply disappointing.

At a minimum you would wonder why Calcagno hasn’t at least stopped these Brown Act violations while the DA’s investigation is running, for cryin’ out loud.

And let’s get things straight. The county staff may think they’re running the show, but the supervisors are still the elected bosses.

So while all of that is going on, an election to replace the retiring Calcagno in District 2 is starting to heat up.

I don’t know about you, but this strikes me as a perfect opportunity for us to hear from the candidates, former Salinas City Councilwoman Maria Bonilla-Giuriato, retired Judge John Phillips and North County activist Ed Mitchell, on where they stand on these secret personnel evaluation sessions.

Wouldn’t it be great if each would put out some kind of position paper or notice articulating their opinion on this? Dome HQ is calling them to do just that, by the way.

After all, if they want our votes, they should be able to articulate their positions on this critical issue and put some real skin in the game.

As far as the existing board goes, all I can say is this: It’s not too late to take back control of the county government from what has clearly become a hegemonic staff-ocracy.

You’re all full-time, well-paid ($124,000-plus-a-year) and well-fed politicians. It’s time to earn your pay and stand up and advocate for transparency.

In the meantime, I wish Monterey attorney Richard Rosenthal and Save Our Peninsula every success in its lawsuit.

Jeff Mitchell covers Salinas Valley politics and government. Under the Dome, an opinion column, appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in print and online. Email him at jemitchell@thecalifornian.com. For quick political hits, check out Under the Dome-The Blog, available most every day at www.theCalifornian.com.